Books

Following crime into the 20th century, Erast Fandorin faces a slew of mysteries over the course of three novellas, each of which explore a different genre and trace the detective’s adventures from 1903-1912.

In his “Technocratic Adventure”, our detective finds himself on a mysterious island in the Atlantic. Drawn into the hunt for a treasure galleon, Fandorin’s case is played out both on land and underwater, as he finds himself aboard a submarine in pursuit of answers.

The year is 1907 and Fandorin is back on dry land as he is faced with the cruel murder of an abbess from a distant monastery. In Akunin’s “Nostalgic Adventure”, the detective’s work and personal life collide and he must keep a level head to solve the mystery, when the victim is a former lover from his youth.

In the concluding novella – an “Idiotic Adventure” – Akunin’s writing is as fast paced and harsh as the early 20th Century itself. On the last day of 1912, a bloody murder takes place on a train in Poland. Hot on his heels, Fandorin chases the devilishly cruel culprit across Poland to the ancient town of Krakow, where the story reaches a shocking climax…